Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Myanmar: Sanctions

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany of the (1) entities, and (2) individuals, they identified as complicit or collaborating in the military coup in Burma have been sanctioned; and how long it takes from identification to implementation.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has issued fifteen rounds of targeted sanctions (including 20 individuals and 29 entities) to put pressure on the military regime and reduce its access to revenue, arms and equipment without harming the wider population. We have designated the military's two key conglomerates and their 111 subsidiaries under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.To designate, we must ensure our measures and cases are carefully targeted and based on robust evidence before we sanction individuals, goods, services or companies. We build cases based on evidence against the criteria set out in UK sanctions regulations.The UK has led international efforts and continue to work closely with our partners in the US, Canada and EU to ensure a strong, coordinated and targeted response to the military regime's actions.

China: Tibet

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by UN Special Rapporteurs on 27 April that suggested that vocational training programmes in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China "threaten Tibetan identity" and "carry risk of forced labour”; and what assessment they have made of the statement's recommendations thatthegovernment of China should explain the steps it intends to take to comply with its international obligations to prevent forced labour and trafficking, and to ensure access to compensation for victims of such practices.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement China: "Vocational training" programmes threaten Tibetan identity, carry risk of forced labour by various UN experts, published on 27 April; and how they intend to take forward the recommendations of compliance with international obligations prohibiting forced labour and trafficking, in addition to the calls for access to remedy and compensation for victims of such practices.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are aware of human rights violations in Tibet, including restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, freedom of assembly and association, and reports of forced labour. We coordinate with partners to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Tibet, most recently on 20 May 2023 in the G7 Leaders' Communique, and in March 2023, as part of our Item 4 statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC). In June 2022, a UK-led lobbying effort helped to secure the support of 46 other countries for a joint statement at the UN HRC, which highlighted the situation in Tibet. We urge China to respect all fundamental rights across the People's Republic of China, including in Tibet, in line with both its own constitution and the international frameworks to which it is a party.

Afghanistan and Iran: Environment Protection and Human Rights

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to (1) the government of Pakistan, and (2) the government of Turkey, with regard to the operations of businesses in those countries that are supporting (a) human rights abuses, and (2) environmental destruction, in Iran and Afghanistan.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government does not make representations to the Government of Pakistan on the operations of Pakistani businesses, nor does it make any representations to the Government of Turkey on the operations of Turkish businesses in Iran and Afghanistan. Under the UK's Developing Countries Trading Scheme, Pakistan benefits from duty free exports on the condition that it ratifies and effectively implements specified international conventions on human rights and environmental degradation. We regularly raise human rights issues in Pakistan and Turkey at the highest levels in their respective governments.

Sudan: Human Rights

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will support the proposal at the special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Sudan from civil society representatives for the establishment of a special mechanism to document human rights violations in Sudan.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK has consistently denounced all human rights violations that have taken place since the military coup on 25 October 2021, and the escalation in incidents since 15 April. On 11 May, the UK called for the Special Session on Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). The HRC voted in favour of the UK-drafted resolution, which condemns the human rights violations and abuses taking place in Sudan. It is the strongest resolution the HRC has passed on Sudan in over a decade. We will continue to work closely with international and civil society actors to monitor the human rights situation. The UK continues to fund and provide support to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR), a UN body that provides a crucial role in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations. We are liaising closely with them as they now set up and run their remote monitoring mechanisms.

Sudan: Politics and Government

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made a joint analysis of conflict and stability assessment with international partners of the situation in Sudan; and if so, how they are acting on the findings.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: A draft Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS) was finalised in March 2023. It was under internal review when violence broke out on 15th April. Whilst many of the findings remain relevant, given the rapidly changing context we are currently focusing on producing shorter, more regular conflict analyses and context trackers. The UK is utilising JACS analyses to support conflict resolution mechanisms and our development and humanitarian programmes to be more conflict sensitive. We continue to work closely with a wide range of NGOs on understanding atrocity prevention, early warning and early response systems.

South Sudan: Refugees

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask His Majesty's Government how they assess theinternational response to the needs of the displaced and returnees entering South Sudan; and which (1) UN agencies, and (2) NGOs, are now receiving UK support.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK continues to work closely with international partners to respond to the needs of the displaced and returnees entering South Sudan. On 4 May, the UK Government announced an initial £5 million allocation to help meet the urgent needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan and Chad. This support will benefit the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and non-governmental organisations. In South Sudan, £1.5 million will be allocated to the World Food Programme (WFP) for food in border areas and £500,000 to UNICEF for gender-based Violence protection services. We will continue to monitor the situation in Sudan closely, including the humanitarian impacts of the conflict on neighbouring countries.

Sudan: Churches

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Sudan regarding any attacks on churches in Sudan, and especially on the churches and people of the Coptic Orthodox Community.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Prior to the outbreak of violence on 15 April, the British Embassy in Khartoum worked with political and civil society actors to monitor, raise issues, and lobby the Sudanese authorities for improvement on freedom of religion and belief in Sudan. Following recent reports of attacks on churches, the UK Government will continue to work closely with international and civil society actors to monitor the situation, and raise our concerns at the UN Human Rights Council and Security Council, noting that access for the international community to monitor human rights abuses is now been severely restricted. The UK funds and provides support to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR), a crucial UN body for monitoring and reporting on human rights violations. We are liaising with the OHCRC as they set up and run their remote monitoring mechanisms.

Nigeria: Christianity

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made, or intend to make, to the government of Nigeria about the large-scale killing of Christians in that country; and what has been the outcome of any discussions.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK Government condemns the devastating impact that rising insecurity is having on Nigerians of all faiths. Religious identity can be a factor in this, but the root causes are often more complex and frequently relate to competition over resources, historical grievances, and criminality. We are committed to supporting the Nigerian Government in their efforts to address insecurity. The Minister for Development and Africa raised the effects of rising insecurity with Nigerian President Tinubu, in December 2022. Our High Commission in Nigeria regularly engages Nigerian officials and local communities on this issue, including through the Nigeria Governors' Forum and National Peace Committee. We will continue to raise this with the Nigerian Government and support them with assisting affected communities and implementing long-term solutions.

South Sudan and Sudan: World Food Programme

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution they have made to the World Food Programme in Sudan so far in relation to other donors; and whether these figures take account of aid to returnees fleeing to South Sudan.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: On 24 May, the Minister for Development and Africa announced £21.7 million in humanitarian aid to help address people's urgent needs in Sudan. Earlier this month, the Government also announced £5 million to help meet the needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan and Chad; this includes £2 million in South Sudan, of which £1.5 million has been allocated to the World Food Programme for food security and nutrition in border areas. Details of other donors' contributions to the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan can be found here: https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/1123/summary. The UK remains a committed donor to Sudan, having spent over £250 million in humanitarian aid in the last five years. The UK Government is monitoring the current situation in Sudan closely, including the humanitarian and security impacts of the conflict on Sudan's neighbouring countries.

Ministry of Defence

Warships: Procurement

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government whatships the Royal Navy currently have on order.

Baroness Goldie: The Royal Navy currently has the following vessels on order :ClassOn Order/ContractType 26 Frigate8Type 31 Frigate5Fleet Solid Support3Autonomous Minehunting – Mission System3Autonomous Minehunting – Logistic Support Vessel1Multi Role Ocean Surveillance Ship (Seabed Warfare)1

Air Force: Training

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government whether RAF fast jet pilots are now being trained in Italy.

Baroness Goldie: The Royal Air Force have signed a technical arrangement with the Italian Air Force to send a small number of RAF trainee pilots to the International Flight Training School in Italy, commencing in July 2023.

Tornado Aircraft

Lord Trefgarne: To ask His Majesty's Government how many retired Tornado aircraft remain in the possession of the RAF.

Baroness Goldie: The Tornado aircraft went out of RAF service in 2019 and has been through a thorough disposal process. The RAF have retained 16 Tornado aircraft across different variants for use as ground based training aids and gate guardians but none are airworthy and the majority of their systems have been permanently removed or inhibited to ensure long-term safety for ground instruction training or public display.

Cabinet Office

Wetlands: Urban Areas

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the total monetary value of the benefits delivered by urban wetlands.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority. The Rt Hon. the Baroness Jones of MoulsecoombHouse of LordsLondonSW1A 0PW26 May 2023 Dear Lady Jones, As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made, if any, of the total monetary value of the benefits delivered by urban wetlands (HL8042). The UK Natural Capital Accounts produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provide monetary estimates for the goods and services provided by a range of eight broadly defined habitats. “Wetlands” is not among these, but can be found in several other habitats such as “Freshwater” and “Mountains Moorlands and Heath”. “Urban” is one of these eight habitats, and captures a range of other ecosystems in and around dense population areas. We will be updating our approach in our upcoming Urban habitat account release this summer. In this, we plan to include data on the total area of sub-habitats that can be found within “urban” areas, including estimates of the total area of “urban-wetlands”. We would be very happy to discuss these results with you once they are available. While the natural capital accounts are primarily national, in our 2022 Natural Capital Accounts Roadmap [1] we committed to increasing their spatial granularity. This will help us to more readily address questions requiring lower geographical levels. Yours sincerely,Professor Sir Ian Diamond [1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/naturalcapitalaccountsroadmap/2022 UK Statistics Authority  (pdf, 105.7KB)

Government Departments: Public Expenditure

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, Use of evaluation and modelling in government, Session 2022─23, HC 254, published on 27 May 2022; and how much they have spent on external evaluations of their own policies in each of the past 15 years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government formally responded to the findings in the ‘Use of evaluation and modelling in government’ report in the August 2022 Treasury Minutes, which are published online. Across government, HM Treasury, the Analysis Function, the Finance Function, the Evaluation Task Force, the Cabinet Office and departmental accounting officers all have an important role to play in improving evaluation and modelling. Evaluation is an important ingredient in improving value for money and learning from mistakes and successes. The Evaluation Task Force was set up to improve the way government programmes are evaluated and enhance our assessment of whether programmes should be continued, expanded, modified or stopped. The Evaluation Task Force provides all ministerial government departments with evaluation support on request, as well as a proactive scrutiny and challenge function, which is responsive to requests from Treasury and Cabinet Office ministerial priorities.Departments, however, are responsible for evaluating their own programmes. The Government does not centrally hold data on how much departments have spent on external evaluations in each of the past 15 years. Some departments may individually collect this data.

Civil Service: Disclosure of Information

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of whistleblowing were (1) reported, and (2) investigated, by the Civil Service in (a)2020 (b) 2021, (c) 2022, and (d) 2023.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: I refer the Noble Lord to my answer HL7792 on 25th May.

Women and Equalities

Ethnic Groups: Equality

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to (1) encourage, and (2) normalise, racial equality by the end of 2023.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Inclusive Britain action plan, published in March 2022, sets out the UK Government’s most comprehensive strategy ever to tackle unjust ethnic disparities across education, employment, health and criminal justice.In April, we published a report to Parliament on the substantial progress we have made in delivering this action plan, with 32 of the 74 actions now completed just one year into the strategy. The report documents how this work is making a real difference to people’s lives and reducing unfair racial disparities.We intend to deliver the remaining actions over the course of the next year and will update Parliament next spring on the progress we have made with this.

Department for Business and Trade

Companies: London Stock Exchange

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that Oxford PV is more likely to seek listing on the New York or Hong Kong stock exchanges, what steps they are taking to strengthen UK energy and battery technology by incentivising such companies to seek listing on the UK stock exchange.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The UK has some of the strongest capital markets in the world and continues to be Europe’s leading hub for investment, second only to the US as a listing destination. The UK is building on these strong foundations by taking forward ambitious reforms to the rules governing capital markets, including taking forward the recommendations of Mark Austin’s Secondary Capital Raising Review and launching an Investment Research Review to boost the UK’s investment research environment. Furthermore, the Government has committed a total of £30 billion of domestic investment for the green industrial revolution. Our policy and regulatory environment has already been successful in providing investors and industry with long-term certainty. The Government also supports innovative clean energy projects and companies, and expects to invest approximately £4.2 billion in net zero research and innovation over the period from 2022-25.

Department of Health and Social Care

Drinking Water: Fluoride

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their plan for publishing an update on the progress being made on initiating new water fluoridation schemes.

Lord Markham: The Government has stated its intention to expand water fluoridation across the North-East of England, subject to consultation, to reach an additional 1.6 million people. It plans to hold the public consultation on the proposed expansion in the North-East in 2023. Following the consultation, we will provide an update on the proposals for water fluoridation.

NHS: Procurement

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 11 May (HL7210),whether they will place copies of the “internal toolkit” and the “two models” referred to in that answer in the Library of the House.

Lord Markham: As part of the Value Based Procurement (VBP) programme, NHS Supply Chain has developed a toolkit and two VBP models. One model can be applied to the renewal of existing frameworks or contracts for product ranges, and the other is for the procurement of innovation. The toolkit and models are designed for internal use by NHS Supply Chain’s procurement teams and Category Management Service Providers and are not available for publication.However, to support awareness of VBP across the National Health Service and the supplier community, NHS Supply Chain has a dedicated VBP website that is updated as the programme evolves. This website contains the 2021 ‘Value Based Procurement Project Report and Findings’ that has an overview of the VBP toolkit. A copy is attached.Attachment (pdf, 1265.2KB)

Hospitals: Discharges

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government, in each of the nine English regions, how many patients medically fit to be discharged from hospital are unable to leave because of delays due to lack of capacity in domiciliary and residential care.

Lord Markham: We do not have data that shows how many patients are unable to leave hospital due to a lack of capacity in domiciliary or residential care. For some patients, there is data on the number for whom the primary reason is that they are awaiting availability of resource for assessment and start of care at home (pathway 1) and the number awaiting availability of a bed in a residential or nursing home that is likely to be permanent (pathway 3). Pathway 1 includes domiciliary care but will also include other types of care at home provided by the National Health Service or local authority.The following table shows the number of patients with a Length of Stay (LOS) of seven days or over on pathway 1 or pathway 3 for the week ending 14 May 2023. RegionLOSEast of England490London618Midlands623North East and Yorkshire961North West741South East949South West553National4,935

Rare Diseases: Medical Treatments

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Markham on 11 May (HL7533), when the next highly specialised services annual report will be published; whether it will include the results of NHS England's assessment of the levels of uptake of rare disease treatments; and whether they plan to place a copy of the assessment in the Library of the House.

Lord Markham: NHS England’s specialised commissioning team has assessed the levels of uptake of rare disease treatments and presented the results to the last meeting of the NHS England Rare Diseases Advisory Group in April 2023. NHS England currently have no plans to publish this assessment or a further version of the highly specialised services annual report.

Prescriptions: Regulation

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the increase in each year since 2000 in the number of UK regulated independent online providers offering (1) Care Quality Commission regulated prescribing, and (2) General Pharmaceutical Council regulated dispensing services, to the public.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government for what reasons UK-regulated independent online providers in England are permitted to issue and dispense prescriptions without any requirement for pseudonymised prescribing and dispensing data to be collated.

Lord Markham: The requested information is not held centrally. The Care Quality Commission does not have a regulated activity of prescribing or dispensing.The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) regulates pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies in England, Scotland and Wales. The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland regulates pharmacists and pharmacies in Northern Ireland.All pharmacies in Great Britain, including those providing internet services, must be registered with the GPhC. The Department does not hold information on the number of independent online providers offering GPhC regulated dispensing services.Medicines and medical devices are not ordinary consumer goods and their supply is tightly controlled in the United Kingdom. All service providers must adhere to high standards when prescribing and supplying medications to patients, particularly if the patient’s journey is not face to face.The regulation of providers delivering general practitioner consultations over the internet and providers prescribing medications in response to online forms is the responsibility of Care Quality Commission. General Pharmaceutical Council sets standards for professional practice for all registered pharmacies, including non-NHS distance selling pharmacies. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK.To ensure remote supply of medicines to patients is safe, regulators have issued guidance for online providers on how to comply with the legislation and meet expected standards of services and provided guidance for patients about the importance of checking that services they access are statutory regulated. The regulators are working together to address various concerns about remote practice.The decision about data collection required to support these regulatory activities is at the discretion of the regulatory bodies.

Fertility: Medical Treatments

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Progress Education Trust into the variation in policy amongst NHS commissioners in eligibility criteria for NHS funded treatment for infertility.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure all NHS commissioners follow NICE guidelines on the number of cycles of IVF women under 40 are entitled to on the NHS.

Lord Markham: Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.The Women’s Health Strategy was published on 20 July 2022 and contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve the variations in access to National Health Service funded fertility services. Among the initial priorities, we will work with NHS England to eliminate unfair financial burdens faced by female same-sex couples when accessing NHS funded services and to remove non-clinical access criteria.In preparation for the new NICE fertility guideline due to be published in 2024, which sets the standard for clinical care, we expect local NHS commissioners to be improving their offer to fertility patients in anticipation of implementing the new guideline.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Northern Ireland

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions ministers have had with the Department for Education in Northern Ireland regarding the shortfall in school places for children with special educational needs.

Baroness Barran: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.Ministers meet with Cabinet colleagues regularly to discuss a variety of topics.In March this year, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan. This applies to England only, but the department shared a draft with the devolved administrations ahead of publication, to help build understanding of the proposals.

Confucius Institutes: Finance

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to remove all government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK; and what estimatethey have made of the number of such institutes that will be receiving government funding by the beginning of September 2023.

Baroness Barran: The department is taking action to review funding arrangements, but does not currently directly or indirectly fund Confucius Institutes, nor is the department planning to enter financial arrangements in the future with any Confucius Institute.

Schools: Christianity

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they encourage Christian teaching in schools.

Baroness Barran: The government’s policy is to allow religious education (RE) curricula to be designed at a local level, whether that is through a locally agreed syllabus or by individual schools and academy trusts developing their own curricula.The government does not specify what the content of a school’s RE curriculum should be, nor does it actively promote the teaching of any particular religion.Legislation does include the following requirement: a locally agreed syllabus must ‘reflect that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, while taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain’. This requirement is replicated in the funding agreements that academies have with the Secretary of State for Education.Exceptions to this include schools and academies with a religious designation, who are permitted by legislation and funding agreements to provide an RE curriculum in accordance with their trust deeds and tenets of their faith.

Artificial Intelligence

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to protect students from the risks of artificial intelligence.

Baroness Barran: Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform society. The department will need to explore how AI can support teaching, as well as addressing its risks.The department published a ‘Generative artificial intelligence in education’ policy paper which sets out our position on the use of generative AI in the education sector. The paper outlines the potential impact of generative AI on the education sector, including the opportunities for reducing teacher workload, risks to assessment and steps the education sector should take to protect its data, resources, staff and students. The paper is attached and can also be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-education. On 8 May 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, also addressed the Education World Forum on the benefits of embracing AI in education settings.There are huge opportunities for AI as it becomes more sophisticated, but there are also challenges in how the higher education (HE) sector incorporates AI, particularly for teaching, learning and assessment.Schools, colleges, and universities, as well as awarding organisations, need to continue to take reasonable steps where applicable to prevent malpractice, including malpractice involving the use of generative AI and other emerging technologies. Ultimately, it is a matter for the HE sector itself to determine how best to fully harness the potential benefits and to effectively mitigate the risks associated with AI.The department will keep our programme of measures under review to ensure we identify the best ways to address the risks to and opportunities AI presents, including continuing to establish a strong evidence base for technology in education.Generative artificial intelligence in education (pdf, 176.7KB)

Apprentices: Taxation

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government how they will use the underspend of the apprenticeship levy.

Baroness Barran: The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the government’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training.The government, via HM Revenue and Customs, collects the apprenticeship levy of 0.5% on total payroll from businesses across the UK with a payroll of more than £3 million. From this, HM Treasury (HMT) sets an English apprenticeships budget for the department, and the devolved governments receive a share of the funding calculated using the Barnett formula.The department’s apprenticeships budget is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in all employers, levy and non-levy paying employers alike, across England, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training and any additional payments made to employers and providers. This means that levy payers’ unspent funds are used to support additional costs and apprenticeships in smaller employers.In the 2021/22 financial year, the total spend on apprenticeships in England was £2,455 million, against the budget of £2,466 million, meaning that 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget was spent. Previous years’ spending on apprenticeships is set out in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-education-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022.Any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are first returned to HMT, as per the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance. As employers choose which apprenticeships they offer and when, annual spend of the apprenticeship budget is subject to employer demand.The government is increasing apprenticeship funding to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year and has removed the limit on the number of apprentices that small and medium-sized enterprises can recruit to support more employers to benefit from the high-quality training that apprenticeships offer.

Children: Food Poverty

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address instances of child hunger during school holidays for those children who are entitled to free school meals.

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address instances of child hunger during school holidays in the light of high food price inflation.

Baroness Barran: Free school meals (FSM) is an educational entitlement, and intended to support children while they are at school. Pupils do not receive FSM when they are not receiving education, including during the school holidays.The department is funding over £200 million per year in the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, which provides food and activities for disadvantaged children in England for four weeks over summer and one week each at Christmas and Easter. The Programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities, and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and education.For those who require extra support, the government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials.

Sure Start Programme: Finance

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the budget for Sure Start in England in each of the past three years; and to detail (1) the budget for this year, and (2) any projected funding for future years.

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government how many children in England are eligible to receive support from the Sure Start programme; and what percentage this represents of the relevant age cohort.

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand eligibility for the Sure Start programme.

Baroness Barran: The government does not set budgets or eligibility criteria for Sure Start children’s centres in England. English local authorities have a duty under section 5A of the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure there are sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. More information can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/21/section/5A.Decisions on how best to meet the needs of the local population, including which children and families receive support, are for the council concerned.Funding for children's services, including children's centres, gives local authorities the freedom to decide how best to target their resources and respond flexibly to local need. Local authorities must meet their children’s centre statutory duties through the funding made available via the local government finance settlement. Local authorities report actual and planned expenditure on children’s services, including children’s centres, through annual returns, which can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data#local-authority-and-school-finance. In addition, other government funding, such as that for public health, adult skills training and the Supporting Families programme may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, though children’s centres.

Confucius Institutes: Finance

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, in reducingthe number of Confucius Institutes that are in receipt of government funding.

Lord Leong: To ask His Majesty's Government whatestimate they have made of the number of Confucius Institutes in the UK that received government funding in the period between the beginning of January and the end of March.

Baroness Barran: The department does not currently directly or indirectly fund Confucius Institutes, nor are we planning to enter financial arrangements in the future with any Confucius Institute.

Department for Transport

Aviation: Seating

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask His Majesty's Government whether (1) they, (2) the airlines, or (3) any authorities responsible for standards on passenger aircraft, have set a minimum amount of leg room to accommodate economy class passengers of 1.95m in height; and whether this standard has ever been (a) reviewed, or (b) amended.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: We want air travel to be safe, comfortable, and practical for all passengers. There is no numerical figure set as a requirement for leg room, meaning it may vary between aircraft and airlines. A given seat configuration can be certified from an airworthiness point of view if there is enough space between seats to allow passengers safe egress, such as during an emergency evacuation. There are currently no plans to implement height-dependent requirements for leg room on aircraft. We would recommend passengers contact their airlines for information about seating options on their flight.

Railways: Tickets

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that some rail ticket offices are no longer allowed to sell the cheaper advanced tickets and that they can now only be purchased from machines or online; and what assessment they have of the impact of such a decision would have on poorer, older or more vulnerable passengers.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The removal of Advance Purchase Tickets on the Day by Northern was a commercial decision made by the operator. Advance tickets are still available for purchase until the day before travel at Northern ticket offices.

Railways: WiFi

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they have provided to train operators regarding the withdrawal of Wi-Fi services; what assessment they have made of the potential impact of withdrawing Wi-Fi on the popularity of rail as a method of travel; and whether they have undertaken any assessment of the availability of Wi-Fi on train services in other countries across Europe.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Our railways are currently not financially sustainable, and it is unfair to continue asking taxpayers to foot the bill, which is why reform of all aspects of the railways is essential. The Department has requested train operators to set out the commercial case to the Department for retaining Wi-Fi services on their different service groups.

Department for Work and Pensions

Support for Mortgage Interest

Lord Field of Birkenhead: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of Support for Mortgage Interest in the light of rising interest rates.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The rate of SMI we pay is based on the Bank of England average published rate and recently increased from 2.09% to 2.65% in May 2023. Any further changes will occur when the average differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the rate in payment.SMI is intended to provide reasonable support by making a contribution towards mortgage interest to protect claimants against the threat of repossession.To support low-income mortgage borrowers with rising interest rates, from April 2023, we extended the support SMI provides by allowing those on Universal Credit to apply for a loan after three months, instead of nine. We also abolished the earnings rule to allow claimants to continue receiving support while in work and on Universal Credit.For those who need additional support the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable a further extension to the Household Support Fund in England over the 2023/24 financial year. In England, this scheme will be backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities will use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.

Food Poverty

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the data published by the Trussell Trust on 26 April which showed an increase in its emergency food parcel distribution over the period April 2022 to March 2023; and what steps they will take in response.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: We take the issue of food security seriously, which is why we added internationally used food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 19/20. These questions remain in the survey and will allow us to track food security over time. Building on the food insecurity data which this Government first published in 2019/20, we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time this year covering the period 2021/22. These will, alongside the broad suite of poverty data, help shape future policy considerations. The new statistics on foodbank usage will help Government to understand more about the characteristics of people most in need and we will continue to work across Government to support the most vulnerable. The Government recognises the pressures people are facing and has acted, providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living. In April 2023 we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1 per cent, as well as increasing benefit cap levels by the same amount.

Prevention of Accidents to Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latestassessment of the effectiveness of the Prevention of Accidents to Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Prevention of Accidents to Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998 (PACAR) prohibit anyone allowing children under the age of 13 to ride on machinery used in the course of agricultural operations. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces the Regulations and considers they are clear in their intent and requirements. The provisions are well known in the agriculture industry and stem from protections that have been in place since 1958. Within the last ten years, (since 01/04/2013), under the Prevention of Accidents to Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998, HSE have:Issued 23 Prohibition NoticesApproved 2 Prosecution Cases (one resulting in a Guilty verdict) If followed, the Regulations are effective at controlling farm related risk to children under 13 years of age riding on farm machinery. However, they do not extend to control all farm related risk. These hazards include for example, cattle, moving vehicles, slurry lagoons, and bale stacks. The risks presented by these other hazards can only effectively be controlled because HSE uses more general legislation in conjunction with specific guidance. The broader legislation relevant to the protection of children is: The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) which sets out a clear general duty to protect all those not at work who might be affected by the undertaking, and The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSWR) which require assessment and management of all risks in or from a work activity and specifically that young people are not exposed to risk due to their lack of experience, being unaware of existing or potential risks and/or lack of maturity. HSE continues to monitor the legislative framework for the control of risk to children in agriculture and considers the legal provisions are sufficient to allow HSE to take proportionate enforcement action where necessary.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

North Sea Transition Authority: Carbon Capture and Storage

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to amend the Energy Bill to give further powers to the North Sea Transition Authority in relation to carbon capture and storage.

Lord Callanan: The Government tabled amendments to the Energy Bill on 16 May 2023 to provide the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) with powers to require carbon storage licensees to retain and report information and samples gathered as part of activities associated with the geological storage of carbon dioxide. These powers will enable the NSTA to publicly disclose this information after a suitable confidentiality period. They will ensure valuable information collected by storage licensees is appropriately preserved and, in due course, made available for the benefit of the sector more broadly.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of proposed changes to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol on the usage of biomethane by logistics operators.

Lord Callanan: The Department is aware of the proposed changes to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and departmental officials are monitoring this issue closely.